Trace and Forgetting: Between the Threat of Erasure and the Persistence of the Unerasable

Abstract

This article is constructed around the author’s reflections on ‘trace, print, remains’. Greisch uses three personal anecdotes to establish a preliminary understanding of the concept of trace. He then considers trace and memory, drawing on Ricœur. He examines whether the notion of trace can be approached from the angle of life as well as death, and attempts to outline a phenomenological approach. He considers philosophical views of ‘trace’ from Plato onwards. Finally, he discusses Eco’s ‘Signor Sigma’, creating his own conceptual character ‘Herr Spur’ or ‘Mr Trace’.